NikeLab x MMW

Jul 09, 2018

"What computational design and computer data can offer is really the future of design. It helps to create a different perspective that we can build around. "

- Matthew M Williams

“In the space of training, the aesthetic is 100 percent informed by a garment’s purpose,” says Kurt Parker, Nike’s VP of Apparel Design. Step forward Matthew M Williams the American designer (now based in Italy) behind breakout label Alyx has made his name by deftly balancing a unique aesthetic with an unwavering eye for utility. Collaborating with Nike, Williams has produced a collection that gives a human touch to a data-driven, purpose-led series of training shirts, trousers and accessories for men and women.

Scroll down for some conceptual imagery as well as some detailed shots of the collection.

As its base, the collection takes elements from last year’s AAE Capsule, Nike's latest production innovation that blends serious maths, collaborative design & computing science. Essentially using computational design to elevate data (in this case, Atlas maps displaying heat and sweat zones) into structural patterns that inform a new way of manufacturing a sport standard.

“You need human beings to still figure out how to interpret data in a great way. The storytelling of how the product links to its use and bring an emotion to it into — tug on the heartstrings a little bit. That's where I see my role.”